The Sea of Change

by Tina Engel

  Adam squirmed a bit in his seat before answering. “Emilee, he is as human as you were months ago, and has been with me for longer than you can imagine. He knows much more about this world than any human does, and is still sane in the mind. That tells a lot about his strength. Most humans with this much knowledge of the fey world around us, would crack under the stress of it all. If he is cranky and disagreeable, well I think he has a right to be.”

  “Does he know about me, I mean, who I am, and does he know what Rose, Lily and Brett are?”

  “He is a good man, but his knowing who you are isn’t something he needs to carry right now. He doesn’t know that Rose is anything other than human, and Lily anything but a cat. That’s why you should all continue with your glamour covering. Jordan does know who the crew is, Pixies, as you guessed, and Trevor being Trevor. He does know that Brett is like me and is on a mission to transport you some place safe. That’s all he knows, all he wants to know, and he understands the need for secrecy where my world is concerned. Like I said, he has been with me for a long time, and I trust him with my life, even though he is……. a human.”

  Adam’s pause before saying “human” had me puzzled. I thought about this for a moment and then opened my mouth to ask exactly what he meant when he said, “as human as I was a few months ago”, but Brett spoke before I could say a word.

  “Emilee, I think you have gotten enough answers for now. Let’s let Adam finish his coffee in peace before he has to head back up to tend to his daily duty, which is fishing, not explaining his entire life to you.”

  I looked at Brett and knew instantly that he had been in my thoughts and knew exactly the question I was about to ask. I wondered why he did not want me to ask. I smiled a sheepish smile and thanked Adam for the information he was willing to share.

  Turning to Brett, I said, “Maybe we can talk later. I have some questions for you. I also would like to go for a swim today.”

  Brett gave me a look of dismay, but I was up on my feet before he could disagree, and as I headed out of the kitchen, Brett managed to holler behind me, “Behave and stay out of trouble.”

  I felt that tingling sensation and knew he was just giving me a bad time. He was relieved that I was feeling well, and that made him feel well too. I knew, though, that it would probably be a challenge to get him to agree to let me go back into the water. He was just being cautious, but I really wanted to see the fey’s world up close and personal again. I needed to see more.

  The next few days went by quickly, and with no problems like octopi trying to pull the boat down to the depths below, or me for that matter, and no large spiders coming up to find something to eat.

  I spent a lot of time with Trevor every day. He was an amazing cook, and every dish had fresh fruits and vegetables in them, one way or another.

  Sometimes we ate raw fruits like bananas, apples, oranges and grapefruit, but he also cooked the strawberries, blueberries and peaches in breads and cakes, and of course the sauce for the pancakes. Vegetables were always tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and sea weed. Yes, I said sea weed!

  My pancakes could not compare to Trevor’s, so I decided not to try to outdo him. I did make my famous chocolate chip cookies and Chocolate pound cake, which the crew enjoyed tremendously and I even got a slight smile, if you could call it that, from Jordan when he took a bite of the cake. He grumbled something and I think it was “this is okay” or something like that.

  The protein that we ate was always fish. Makes sense, because that’s what they are doing out here, fishing. Trevor baked the fish, Walleye, with onions, tomatoes, garlic and lemon slices for dinner one night, fish stew the next, and for lunches, he made the best walleye sandwiches, like tuna salad but with flaked walleye. With every meal, the entire crew ate lots of the vegetables and fruits raw.

  Rose ate with us at every meal, ever since our stay with Sara and John. I knew she needed nourishment from the negative energy that radiated from living creatures, and the rays from the sun and water. I asked her when we were alone if she really needed the food. She smiled and told me she doesn’t need this food often to survive. It was needed though, to keep her body strong while in the human dimension. The same for the other pixies and for most fey; they need some nourishment from the earth to keep their solid fey bodies healthy. That was why even Brett and Adam ate food that humans eat.

  Rose shared with me how much she was enjoying the company of the other pixies during meal times. She hadn’t experienced this meal time tradition until we spent time with Sara and John, and she was glad that they had this same tradition here. She was enjoying the company of one crew member in particular, a sandy haired, bronze skinned young man, who was the smallest of the crew, but let me tell you, none of them were small by any means when covered in their human glamour. She blushed a bit when she shared this with me. I told her, her secret was safe with me.

  I asked Rose why she hadn’t ever eaten with us before our stay with Sara and John, and she told me she didn’t really want to spend time around Brett. She didn’t trust him yet.

  When I wasn’t down in the galley with Trevor, I was up enjoying the sun and fresh air. Where the cloudy miserable weather went, I didn’t know, and didn’t care. It was beautiful and mild and the breeze brought in the most wonderful, fresh sea air. I say sea, but yes, I know we were really on a very large, fresh water lake. It still smelled of the sea though, to me.

  I was able to convince Brett to take me swimming, but we did it at night when all were sleeping except Adam, who manned the control room to keep an eye out for any crew member, deciding to take a walk. We didn’t want them to see us taking a late night swim.

  Andean appeared both nights that we went into the water. He was always waiting for us and he always had the algae that I needed, laying there on the deck.

  The world under the water was more magical than the night before. The colors were so much more dramatic in this world within the human realm. I thought of the movie, The Wizard of Oz, and how it went from black and white to color, and just how amazing that transformation was, for all to see for the first time. Well that was how I felt, like I was entering Oz.

  The creatures, large and small, were so different. They were all a species of fey, some were advanced creatures, and others were the prey; less advanced species than others, hunted for nourishment. The water plants were alive, and communicated with the small fish that hid in their leaves. The rocks that help hide the creatures that crawl on the lake floor, seemed almost giddy when those who hunted them, would pass by, as if not knowing their dinner was within hands’ reach. I could hear it all, see it all, and was able to take it all in without feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.

  I was at home in the water, in this fey body, and didn’t want to leave it. The fey all around were aware of me and seemed pleased I was there. Were there some who would go running, or swimming I should say, to Stephan, if he was indeed close by, to give my whereabouts away? Maybe but If so, I didn’t care. Brett and Andean seemed concerned and were on the defense, wary of any creature coming to close. I could feel Brett’s energy and it was agitated and aggressive.

  The third night out in my new world, Andean stayed farther away from Brett and me. I wasn’t sure why. Brett was his same nervous, grumpy self. I decided it was time for him to relax. I decided maybe a little hide and seek might loosen him up, so I dove down to the bottom of the lake. Well the vibes I got in response told me it wasn’t a good game to play. Brett was right there next to me within a heartbeat and his eyes said it all. They were dark blue, almost black, the color filled with fear, not anger. They turned quickly to red, the color of anger, when he realized I was okay.

  He put his arm around my waist and we swam back up, just under the surface of the water. As he tried to remove his arm from around my waist, I held tight. We were facing each other and gazing into each other’s eyes. Brett’s eyes turned from red to dark blue, then to the soft ocean blue that I so loved. I felt the soft vibration between
us and he softened his grip as he pulled me closer, I watched as his eyes turned green… a need, but not for food. I wanted him to kiss me so badly that it hurt.

  Just then Andean was at our side, which broke the spell we were under. Brett removed his arm from around my waist. Andean pointed in the direction of a large rock formation, coming up from the depths of the lake. He was concerned, there was something there, we should be wary of. All I saw was the beauty of my surroundings; the rock formation was alive and seemed fine with my presence.

  Then I saw it, a face in the rocks. It was Kimberlite, with the largest grin. He was watching us from below and just then a small pebble came flying up towards Brett. Brett batted it away and back towards Kimberlite.

  Poor Andean didn’t know what to think, but as soon as he saw Brett and I laughing, Andean realized it was okay. Kimberlite left the rock just enough for us to see him in his full body shape; he winked at us and then disappeared back into the rock as if he had never been there.

  That ended the intimate moment for Brett and me. We left the fey world, full of vivid colors, mysterious creatures and sounds that were so beautiful and calming, and headed back into the black and white world of the human race. I felt sad and empty, crawling back on deck, but I still felt the vibration between Brett and I, and he couldn’t ignore that he felt it too.

  Each night after our swim I couldn’t seem to put on my human veil. Something inside of me just didn’t want it there. I covered myself with a blanket, just in case we ran into Jordan or a member of the crew.

  I still didn’t understand exactly why he couldn’t know who I was. Jordan knew about the fey’s dimension and knew all of the crew members were fey. And the comment Adam had made regarding Jordan being as human as I was, just months ago, was still bothering me. I never really was human but was covered with a facade.

  As for Lily, she did behave and was visible most of the time. When she wasn’t on deck, she was sleeping in my room. I caught her a few times, coming up from the bunk room, with a mouse firmly grasped, between her teeth. She had a look of triumph on her face as I smiled, shook my head, and let her enter the room where she would enjoy her meal.

  As for Rose, she spent a lot of time up top, soaking up the sunshine, getting as much negative energy from Jordan Davis, when he was around, and enjoying the companionship of the crew as she tried to stay out of there way.

  Brett worked right alongside the others and he smelled of fish at the end of the day, just like the rest of them. I think he was enjoying being just another crew member, not having to worry about anything but the fish. Well, I knew he still worried, especially when we were in the water and he kept a close eye on me and our surroundings, but everything seemed normal if you could call it that.

  As for Kimberlite, I was so happy to have seen him and it felt safe knowing that he was still keeping an eye on us. I looked into my diamond every once in a while to check to see if I could see his face, but only the little lava pebbles were there. That was comforting too though.

  Everything seemed perfect, with the one exception; Jordan Davis, the very grumpy partner of Captain Adam Banks. He stayed away from Rose, Lily and I as much as he could, and when he was around he was extremely curt. He had such a dark presence that surrounded him that whenever he entered a room, the entire place turned dark and gloomy.

  I noticed also that the little lava babies in my diamond would seem to get restless, and the stone would glow with a slight warning. I assumed it was a warning, anyway. But Adam was very adamant about his trust in Jordan, so I tried to ignore my concerns about this very strange human; if he was human at all.

  Chapter ten

  Sometimes you must face your fears,

  Look past it,

  Go forward,

  You will see things differently then,

  And that’s okay!

  Change is a good thing.

  It was the afternoon of the third day when things started to change. We would be pulling into port in Westfield New York, tomorrow mid-morning, and the men were behind in their quota of fish. The atmosphere changed somewhat; the men anxious and cranky, with a bit more haste in their work. Jordan Davis was even more dark and agitated than usual.

  The beautiful sunny skies disappeared, being covered by large dark clouds. The cool breeze changed to a cold, howling wind. The gentle push of the water currents turned into raging waves that crashed on the deck at times as the weather changed.

  I had been sitting on the bow of the boat enjoying the sunny day and watching the water fey play in the small waves. I saw that they were water fey, but any human would only see large walleye. I so enjoyed being at the very front of the boat. I could see where we were heading and that was all I wanted to think about, the journey ahead of us.

  As the sky darkened and the breeze became a cold, icy wind, I stood and headed to the back of the boat where the crew was. As I walked the narrow path on the side of the boat, I heard for the first time in days, “Emilee, it’s time to come home.”

  I stopped walking and looked out at the water, so angry and dark. I thought I saw tentacles coming out of the water in the distance. They were small at first, but as they came closer, the larger they became. I was frozen there in that spot. Was it fear that held me there, or the acceptance that I would face this being, whatever it was, eventually, so why not now. The large arms came closer and closer. There were many I believe. They would come up out of the water and then disappear beneath, only to surface again, sometimes two at a time and sometimes three or four. I never saw what they were attached to, but I had a pretty good idea.

  There I was, standing there as the waves rushed at me, knocking me against the side of the boat, but I stood my ground and wouldn’t crumble. Whatever this creature was, suddenly, it was close enough to wrap two of its tentacles around the bars that kept me safely on the walkway.

  I had such a strong desire to reach out and touch these arms. They were massive and radiated such strength and power. Just as I was about to touch one of them, an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me into the doorway that led below, and out of the wind and rain.

  I turned to see Jordan with a look of anger, fear and relief all at once in his eyes. He still had his arm around me, but as I turned to face him he let go, backing up a few feet.

  “What in the world are you doing, girl? I don’t know what that thing is, but I assure you it isn’t a friend!” Jordan bellowed. “Stay down here where it’s safe. I’ll try to find your friend and that blasted cat too. Before Jordan had a chance to head back up the stairs, in flew Rose and Lily. I really mean flew, or fell, but they didn’t casually walk down the stairs. Rose was actually carrying Lily and they landed with a thud on the floor.

  The door was still open and Jordan was up the steps and out the door. Turning towards us he said, “Stay down below. I suggest you go all the way down to our bunk room. Shut and lock the door until one of us comes to get you.” And he shut the door with a slam.

  Rose and I looked at each other and I then looked at Lily in Rose’s arms. Rose had an awkward look on her face and dropped Lily on the floor. (Don’t worry, cats always land on their feet) Lily shook herself, and looking quite appalled with the situation being wet and all, took off down below, leaving Rose and I alone.

  “I suggest, Princess, that we do as we were told this time and hide.” Rose said, and then grabbing my arm, started to head towards the steps that led down to the very bottom of the boat.

  I didn’t budge though. She stopped trying to move me, and turning to face me, she said, “What, I couldn’t just leave her up there to let the waves take her over board, now could I? She wouldn’t change into her fey body. I told her to but she wouldn’t. You would have never forgiven me if I left her!”

  I gave Rose a slight smile and we both headed to the stairs. Down we went and headed towards the bunk room. I thought maybe we should try the locked room and warn Queen Widow, but as I looked at that door, Rose said, “NO!”, grabbed my arm, and into the bunk r
oom we went.

  As I looked around, I saw Lily lying on a bunk, cleaning herself. Rose shut the door but there was no lock on it. Without speaking, we both went over to a large wooden table, pushed it over and shoved it against the door to stop anyone from getting in. Okay, I don’t think it would have stopped that large creature that was attached to those very large tentacles, but it might have slowed it down. I sat down on the table as if my weight would help some, and looked around, sizing up our situation.

  Rose started to pace and Lily was franticly cleaning herself, trying to get the water out of her fur as if it was burning her. I guess some cats really don’t like water.

  My mind started racing with so many questions. Why did I not put up my shield? In my dream I had put it around the entire boat. Why did I not activate my weapon? I might have been able to injure that creature. Now it was out there trying to get to me. It might hurt the crew and maybe Brett. Why did I feel the need to touch the creature? I was drawn to it. This all happened after I heard the voice calling me home. Could it have been the creature that was calling me home?

  I wonder, what kind of water fey my father was. What creature from the sea does he hide behind? I knew he was Proteus, but Brett never told me if he could turn into something other than his fey self. Or was it Stephan who took over a poor helpless creature, like he did the tree fey, Albee, to try to get to me. I felt fear with Albee but not with this creature that was attached to those large tentacles. Okay, I was assuming it was a great octopus.

  I realized that I was staring towards one of the portholes, and instead of thinking all of this, I was actually speaking it out loud. Rose was looking at me and I realized that Lily had changed into her fey form and was staring at me also.